Friday, 1 May 2009

Botanic Gardens, sundial (Theme Day: Shadows)

The sundial in the Royal Botanic Garden which sits in the middle of the Herb Garden is an armillary sphere sundial made of silicon bronze that weighs 1500kg and is 2.4m tall with a 1.5m internal ring diameter. It was designed specifically for the Herb Garden in 1994 by John Ward and Margaret Folkard and features herbs modelled in clay in high relief by Adelaide sculptor Karen Rumpf from drawings by Gardens’ illustrator Marion Westmacott. The sun shines on the central bar, which then casts a shadow onto the time marked, angled ring, indicating that this photo was taken at around about 1.40pm. The view from the other angle can be seen here.